Venus Stewart family members unhappy with plea deal for murder accomplice Ricky Spencer

View full sizeMark Bugnaski | Kalamazoo Gazetteerrol Jasper, grandfather of Venus Stewart, protests Ricky Spencerâs plea agreement in front of the St. Joseph County Courthouse in Centreville along with Mary Ellen Hopkins, left, and Sue Billings.

CENTREVILLE — St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough has no doubt that without the testimony of Ricky Spencer, Doug Stewart would be a free man.

Spencer, 21, of Bear, Del., is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in St. Joseph County Circuit Court for his role in helping Stewart plan and carry out the April 2010 abduction and murder of Stewart’s estranged wife, Venus Stewart.

Under terms of a plea agreement, McDonough is recommending that Spencer, who pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit manslaughter, a 15-year felony, serve no more than one year in the county jail.

”I fully believe without Ricky Spencer, Doug Stewart would be walking the streets today and more than likely would have custody of (his two daughters),” McDonough said. “I think Ricky was the most important part of my case, and although he made a horrible decision to help this guy out, he at least did the right thing when he was approached by the police and continued to do the right thing throughout the trial.”

But members of Venus Stewart’s family said during a recent interview on a 90-minute “Dateline NBC” piece on the case that they believe Spencer is getting off easy. A group that included Venus Stewart’s grandfather, Aerrol Jasper, staged a protest outside the county courthouse Wednesday and plan to return Friday.

Gazette fileRicky Spencer on the witness stand.

”This is premeditated murder as far as I’m concerned,” Jasper said Wednesday. “He’s almost as guilty as Doug is and now all I hear from the prosecutor’s office here in Centreville is, ‘He’s such a nice boy, he was taken in by Doug and his B.S.’ ... This is a 20-year-old man ... that plotted to kill my granddaughter and helped carry it out.”

McDonough said Wednesday that he sympathizes with Venus Stewart’s family but stands by the plea agreement with Spencer.

”I have no idea how I would react if I was in their shoes, and this is the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make,” McDonough said. “Yes, we had some very, very good evidence ... but Ricky is the person that put the whole story together, and I think that made the jury’s decision very easy.”

Gazette fileSt. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough during the murder trial of Doug Stewart.

The decision as to how much time Spencer will spend behind bars rests in the hands of St. Joseph County Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman.

Stutesman, who presided over Stewart’s trial, declined to discuss specific facts of the Spencer case Wednesday. He did say that, as with any case, he will review Spencer’s presentence report prepared by the Michigan Department of Corrections before sentencing him and determine whether he will follow the plea agreement.

If Stutesman were to decide he cannot follow the agreement between McDonough’s office and Spencer’s attorney, he would have to notify both sides and Spencer of his proposed sentence and Spencer would then be allowed to go through with sentencing or withdraw his plea and go to trial.

If Spencer were to request a trial, Stutesman said it would then be up to McDonough as to how to proceed. The prosecutor’s options would include taking Spencer to trial on a felony manslaughter charge, dropping the charge and letting Spencer go free or going to trial on a different and, possibly less serious, charge.

McDonough said it is rare “but not unheard of” that a judge would decide not to follow a plea agreement.

”We will see what happens on Friday,” McDonough said. “If he chooses not to abide by the agreement, Ricky will have the option to withdraw his plea, and if that happens we’ll .... move forward one way or another.”